Arguably one of the greatest soccer players of our generation has passed on today aged 60. He's up there with the best soccer players in the Hall of Fame. His goal against England in 1986 (not The Hand of God one) was probably the greatest World Cup goal when he passed through the entire English defence to put the ball into the net. R.I.P. Diego Armando Maradona Franco.

One of the Greats!

[Edited 11/25/20 19:22pm]

[Edited 11/25/20 19:22pm]

RIP-A truly gifted athlete.

EmmaMcG said:

I don't really follow football all that much but I've seen many clips of Maradona play and I've even read his autobiography. Genius on the pitch. Complete headcase off the pitch. A fascinating character overall and a true sporting legend. My ex is a bit of a football fanatic and he's always rated Maradona as the best of all time.

As a sidenote, I'll also add that from an Irish perspective, Maradona will always be seen as a legend not just for his exceptional performances and his multitude of world-class goals but also BECAUSE of his "Hand of God" goal against England. The sheer audacity to do that in a World Cup match and get away with it. Brilliant. And the fact it was against England makes it all the better

R.I.P way to young

To put things into perspective, to those who barely know about football/soccer, this is as if Magic Johnson or even Jordan had died, aged 60. He's mostly known in the USA for the doping fiasco of the WC'94.

Best footballer of all time; I say this because '80s soccer is not that different from '90s-and-beyond soccer. Perhaps more physical, sometimes a bit slower, but that's it. Maradona is still the heroic '80s Gold Standard, like Prince or MJ. His technique and IQ on the pitch was out of this world. After Maradona, only Messi (when he was in his '20s) can compare. And unlike Messi, he was passionate and had that "magic moment-carrying the whole team forward-we can do it" mentality.

He was a very flawed human being, and prone to addiction, the Ozzy of Football, and he eventually became a joke after the '90s with his (sadly amusing) alcohol-fueled antics, ugly sentimental life, and chaotic-childish political views (pseudo-commie, blaming the UK for the Malvinas War, etc). But he was not a bad person, in fact he was too generous and naive. He was dirt-poor in his childhood and grew up way too fast, in an ugly era for Argentina (the '70s). He was "40" years old when he was 14. He was as good as the people surrounding him, period. That's why he desperately needed family members around him and not asslickers, dealers, pimps and leeches.

RIP. One hell of a life, with lots of joy and pain, but also glory.

[Edited 11/26/20 14:55pm]

lust said:

EmmaMcG said:

I don't really follow football all that much but I've seen many clips of Maradona play and I've even read his autobiography. Genius on the pitch. Complete headcase off the pitch. A fascinating character overall and a true sporting legend. My ex is a bit of a football fanatic and he's always rated Maradona as the best of all time.

As a sidenote, I'll also add that from an Irish perspective, Maradona will always be seen as a legend not just for his exceptional performances and his multitude of world-class goals but also BECAUSE of his "Hand of God" goal against England. The sheer audacity to do that in a World Cup match and get away with it. Brilliant. And the fact it was against England makes it all the better

Fair call. Does bring to mind a certain Thierry Henry however!

EmmaMcG said:

lust said:

Fair call. Does bring to mind a certain Thierry Henry however!

That's the difference. We've mostly forgotten about that now. Thierry Henry could walk into almost any pub in Ireland and he'd drink for free all night. A lot of English people still come across as very bitter when talking about Maradona. Peter Shilton was on Sky Sports News earlier still bitching about the hand of god. I suppose it's easier to blame it on Maradona rather than accept that he was outjumped by a 5'5" man but all throughout his interview I couldn't help but think "Jesus, what a prick".

They need to just let it go and accept that in that moment, Maradona was smarter. Yes, he cheated. But I can't remember a football match where players aren't cheating left, right and center. The hand of God goal was a stroke of genius because he got away with it. And his other goal in that game was, as the commentator over described it, DIFFERENT CLASS.

And let's face it, if it was an English player or an Irish player who did that, we'd be saying how great it was.